Native Plants for the Cape and Islands – Recipes for Success from Seed
Native Plants for the Cape and Islands – Recipes for Success from Seed
When: Friday, March 13, 2026
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Where: APCC’s Koppel Center
482 Main St (Rte 6A), Dennis 02638
Join APCC as we welcome Polly Hill Arboretum (PHA) Director Tim Boland as he shares cultivation tips and protocols for raising twenty of the most popular native plants from seed.
Tim began his growing career (1988-1998) managing an extensive campus nursery at Michigan State University. Tim started the Martha’s Vineyard Wildtype native plant production program in 2006 to serve both homeowners and conservation organizations. The PHA nursery grows thousands of plants each year as part of a conservation horticulture program that produces trees, shrubs, and perennials.
Tim will share seed collection, treatments, and germination protocols for twenty of the most popular plants requested by homeowners. He will also share less common native plants to consider for adding biodiversity to our gardens. As part of the course, he will demonstrate seed-sowing techniques, provide material sources and references, and offer tips to help growers successfully grow native plants from seed.
SPEAKER: Tim Boland retires in September of this year after a long career in plant conservation, which includes the past 24 years as executive director at the Polly Hill Arboretum. He will remain active at the PHA as a research associate, working on the Flora of Dukes County and continuing his work with seeds, his first and continuing passion.
Tim is trained as a botanist, horticulturalist, and plant ecologist with a master’s degree in plant taxonomy and ecology, and an undergraduate degree in horticulture from Michigan State University.
In 2024, the PHA and other island conservation organizations initiated the Plant Local program to inspire homeowners, nurseries, and farms to use native plants.
Tim and his wife, Laura, share an eclectic garden of many seed-grown plants in West Tisbury, MA.
This talk is offered as part of the Cape Cod Native Plant Growers’ Cooperative Program to provide information to prospective growers. The program is made possible by funding from the Cape Cod and Islands License Plate Grant program, the Kelley Foundation, and other funders.
Register
This is a hybrid event. In person seating is limited. The event is free.
The presentation will be recorded and made available on APCC’s website.